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Early Access: Update 8 – Echoes of Gratitude

Greetings, Aces!

From the moment Towerborne hit Early Access last September—and through April’s game-shaping update—you’ve been with us every swing of the Warclub. You’ve toppled titans, lit up Umbra Shrines, leveled classes, and traded war stories in the Belfry. We set out to build a game we wanted to play, and we knew it would only reach its full potential with you right beside us.

That spirit fuels our latest (massive) update-celebration, Echoes of Gratitude. From bug-hunting to every “hey, what if…?” our Founders – those Aces who’ve played with us on our road to 1.0 launch – have helped sculpted Towerborne into what it is today, and like any good squad-mate, we’ve got your back!

Update 8 Overview

With this update, expect a bigger world and a deeper game, including a new Danger Level 5 zone, new Ventures, new Chance Encounters, new enemies and a new Umbra – and more. Quality of life improvements include early runs feeling smoother, fewer pop-ups, a rebalanced DL 2 trial, cleaner mission flow, and more.  

Echoes of Gratitude Celebration

To show our thanks, we’re throwing the Belfry doors wide open for a week of Free Play Days! Yes, it’s exactly like it sounds … play for free on Steam (June 11–18) or Xbox (June 12–18) – these Free Play Days serve two purposes: first, a big thank-you! And second, they’ll help us test our systems to make sure we ship the best possible game when we officially launch – for everyone! Beyond that, we’ve lined up a slate of in game (and out-of-game) goodies – see the full list below!

Give it all a whirl and – as always – we can’t wait to hear what you think.

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Echoes of Gratitude

We hope all of what we’ve got in store resonates with you – each item below is a version of our way of saying – thank you for suiting up alongside us!

Jump Into Free Play Days! (limited time)

Towerborne will be free to play on Steam (June 11-18) and Xbox (June 12-18). No codes. No hoops. Just jump in and play! Couch co-op just got a bit cozier. Founders with those laggard pals – have them join the squad! Additionally, Towerborne is on sale across platforms (for a limited time) – if you’ve been waiting to become a Founder yourself, this is a great time to do it.

Update 8 is Here!

We are building Towerborne to grow and evolve over time. In just the months leading up to our launch, we can probably say that we’ve grown significantly. And, with your continued input and feedback – we plan to keep it rolling. Update 8 is a big step in converting feedback into meaningful changes, including: combat tuning, UX polish, and measurable balance changes that we feel will improve the overall experience. Check out the details, below!

New: Discord Quests!

We partnered with Discord for a special limited-time Quest. From June 11 to June 18, completing the Quest while playing Towerborne will unlock an exclusive Shiro avatar to use on Discord.

  • Go here to grab the Quest via Discord!
  • For a primer on how Discord Quests work, go here.
  • This reward is available to all players on Steam and Xbox.

Curio Favorites Return for a Limited Time!

Shiro’s Stash was originally set to rotate out a month ago – but thanks to the support from the community, we’ve extended the window through June 18! We’re also bringing back two fan-favorite Curios. The originally event-timed Nightcloak’s Vault and the Glacial Hoard Curio are making an appearance for a limited time. Grab these iconic cosmetics before they cycle out!

Twitch Drops: Final Chance, Full Unlock

We are so thankful to all the creators who have streamed Towerborne and to everyone who has watched and supported the game along the way. This current week (June 11-18) is also your chance to scoop up a full Twitch Drop gear set … take that, FOMO! For more details on how to participate – go here.

twitch drops title

New! Belfry Heroes Wallpaper

What’s that you say? The art of Towerborne is so compelling you want it plastered across your screens?! Don’t worry, we got you! We’re keeping it going with a brand-new Heroes of the Belfry wallpaper set in full 4K resolution. All of our wallpaper, old and new, you can find here!

wallpaper

 

Gratitude = Prizes

Two Umbra. Two cozy blankets. One lucky winner … Which one of your skilled lucky Aces will conquer this Sweepstakes-Shrine?! Enter the contest here (runners up will get their hands on either 2,000 Belfry Bucks or a Curio Core! Open to US Residents, only).

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Update 8 Details

A stiff breeze is rolling in from the mountains … and along with it, a fresh zone for Danger Levels 4 and 5, new Ventures, new Chance Encounters, and a new enemy to test your mettle too. There is more game to play and world to explore – and you’ll have a better time doing it. This update also delivers relatively smoother runs overall. New players have a faster experience learning the game—fewer pop-ups, a rebalanced License 2 trial, and better mission-to-mission flow. Couch co-op squads now share quest steps while everyone hunts for new Legendary weapons, gear sets – and last but not least, a new Umbra ally to join your fight.

Here are the details:

Gameplay & Exploration

  • New map expansion!
    • New location opened up to the northeast of Numbers for Danger Levels 4 and 5
    • 2 New Ventures
    • 6 New Chance Encounters
    • 1 New Umbra Shrine
  • New Enemy – Merk Trickster
  • Updated Bait and Clear missions
    • Bait and Clear missions are now repeatable
    • A new Bait and Clear has been added to Danger Level 2
    • There is now a new questline to complete Bait and Clear missions for Writs. This questline will refresh monthly.
  • Early Player Experience Changes
    • There have been significant changes to the early player experience to focus on playing missions over going back and forth between missions and the Belfry
    • Reduced the difficulty of the Danger License 2 Trial
    • A number of tutorial popups have been removed
  • Rakentague Updates
    • An additional healing shrine has been added to this venture
    • The final encounter of Rakentague has been adjusted
  • Couch Co-Op – Shared Progression
    • All players on the same step of of a quest can progress together
    • Players can see who shares progression when selecting a conversation
    • The colored dots that represented players who have interactions at an NPC have been updated to a colored ring and portrait
  • Couch Co-Op – Individual Player Settings
    • It is now easier to see which settings can be adjusted by individual players

Classes & Combat

Hero posing with ally.

  • New loot!
    • 12 new Legendary Weapons have been added with perks that affect individual Focus Skills
    • 2 new Gear Sets can be earned from the new Ventures
    • 1 new Umbra can be recruited: Bastion
  • Gear
    • Fixed a bug where Goji’s Echo did not increase the damage of Pyroclast’s Cyclone Slam correctly
  • Class Skills
    • All
      • Critical Mending now unlocks at Level 1 and costs 0 points to equip
      • Fixed a bug where Mending Circle II visually healed but did not actually heal allies
      • Rising Recovery is now an Innate Skill
      • Fixed an issue where Air Heavy Attacks counts twice in the Sky High request
      • Fixed an issue where Second Chance didn’t show the proper VFX in the Skill Preview screen
    • Sentinel
      • Improved gameplay feel on a variety of Enders
        • It is now possible to Evade cancel the Light Combo Finisher
        • It is now YXXXX Combo Finisher
      • Adjusted cancel windows for various attacks so that you can Block Cancel easier
      • Adjusted Dash Light Attacks so that you can cancel out of them easier
      • Slightly increased the amount of Valor gained when blocking, parrying, and getting hit by attacks
      • Silver-Gold Sword Legendary Weapon
        • Fixed an issue where Shield Rush when done in the air did not hit enemies properly
        • Fixed an issue with Air Shield Rush when Silver-Gold Sword is equipped that caused multiple hits to not work as expected
        • Improved the feel of Shield Rush when Silver-Gold Sword is equipped so that the hits are more consistent
      • Fixed a bug where Vanguard gave more Defense than described
      • Fixed an issue where additional bleed stacks did not increase Sanguine Burst’s damage
    • Pyroclast
      • It is now possible to perform Mountain Splitter in the air
    • Rockbreaker
      • Jackhammer
        • It is now possible to perform Jackhammer while in the air
      • Fixed a bug where Rockerbreakers could use Rising Strike without having the skill equipped
      • Atomic Shockwave
        • Fixed an issue where the shockwave didn’t break props
      • Rumbling Elbow Drop
        • Fixed an issue where the shockwave didn’t break props
      • Adjusted cancel window on YYY Combo Finisher so that you can break out of the attack earlier
    • Shadowstriker
      • Fixed an issue where Toxic Eruption did not appear correctly in the Skill Preview screen
      • Fixed an issue where Explosive Frenzy did not appear correctly in the Skill Preview screen

Allies & Enemies

  • Umbra
    • McKraken
      • Improved start up frames so that ability comes out a few frames earlier
      • Increased cooldown time from 30s to 45s
        • There was a change in how cooldowns work a few updates ago and this resulted in unintended behavior. It was never meant to be possible for the ability to be active while the cooldown is ticking. This resulted in being able to use this umbra way more often than intended. The cooldown time has been adjusted to account for this. 
    • Boshi
      • Fixed an issue where Boshi doesn’t collide with hourglasses
  • Enemies
    • Improved collision on all enemies that couldn’t be walked through
      • It is now possible to slide through enemies instead of hitting an invisible wall
      • Improved gameplay feel of attacks so that you don’t attack past enemies even if you were slightly misaligned from them
    • Basic Gobo Tailwhippers no longer knock down players with their attacks at DL 1 and DL 2
    • Gobo Tailwhippers can be hit out of their Tail attack instead of powering through
    • Fixed a bug where there was a missing red indicator for one of Stonecutter’s moves that could not be parried
    • Fixed a bug where some of Yxil’s attacks could be parried but were missing the yellow indicator
    • Fixed an issue where Gobo Skewerspear had Block Breaker attacks that could not be parried
    • Fixed an issue where Pangorilla did not show fly text when hit
    • Fixed an issue with Mushbooms where they wouldn’t attack when in large groups
    • Ratslasher Bloodletter
      • At DL 1 and DL 2, The Ratslasher Bloodletter now dizzies after every Spin Attack
    • Merk Marauder
      • After performing 2 or more charge attacks, the Merk Marauder will now go into a tired state
    • Fixed an issue where the Raccoon Prowler would stand in place sometimes instead of moving around or doing attacks
  • Controller Remapping
    • Optional Focus Skill Shortcuts have been added
    • Optional Weapon Skill Activate Shortcut has been added
    • Right Analog Stick Directions have been added as possible remapping options

Art & UX

  • New feature – Rewards Preview
    • Preview notable rewards for Ventures and Umbra Shrines before entering a mission from the World Map.
  • New feature – Facewright Presets
    • There is a static set of character appearances in the Facewright
  • New feature – Loading Screen Tips
    • Tips and tricks for Towerborne are now visible while loading
  • Request Board
    • Requests can now be turned in on the board instead of going to the requester
  • Off-Screen Indicator
    • There is a new indicator for normal enemies that are off-screen
    • Fixed a bug that would hide the off-screen indicators for NPCs on the Belfry
  • Changed the controller input to start a mission from X to A.

Core Tech & Store

  • Ace names now support numbers
  • Account linking improvements, including a notice on how to view terms of use, better error handling, bug fixes, and a warning of destructive action taken once accounts are linked
  • Belfry Bucks purchases now confirm purchase
  • Custom audio settings now persist after logging out rather than reverting back to default values
  • There is now a confirmation prompt when purchasing Belfry Bucks
  • Two new Collectors Bundles are now available
    • Items in these bundles can be purchased individually or in a bundle for a discount
  • Eight new bundles are now available
    • Items in these bundles can be purchased as groups or in a bundle for a discount
  • Ten new Umbra skins are now available

New: Badlands Curio

Heroes adorned in Wild West clothes.